A. What brought the revolution?

A1. The Russo-Japanese war (1904-1905)
* Backround: Russia's defeat in the Crimean war > attention to the Far East sea ports
* Reasons for the war?
* The main impact of the war?
> The Russo-Japanese War (3 minutes history)

A2. Social, economic and political causes for the revolution in 1905
- industrialization changed the society
- poor living and working conditions of the industrial workers
- series of poor harvest and war againts Japan caused food shortages > high food prices > regime failed to ensure a fair distribution of food
- economic slump > growing unemployment > less taxes
- harder to get foreign loans because of an international monetary crisis
- radical fall on the annual growth rate

> tens of thousands strikes (in 1904: 90 000) and the escalation of peasant revolts

- demands for liberal reforms by intelligentsia and members of zemstva (or zemstvo):
> modarate reforms including an advisory State Duma
> more radical liberals pressed for a fairly elected National Legislative Assembly and for constitutional monarchy instead of the autocracy
- the political unrest was provoked by the Social Revolutionaries and Social Democrats

- events of Bloody Sunday at the Palace Square in January became a 'trigger' factor for the revolution in late of the same year

- the strikes escalated into a general strike (by the autumn 2,5 million workers had stricken)
- an elected strike committees, soviets, were established in many towns (first in textile town of Ivanov near Moscow)
> the St Petersburg Soviet (led by Leon Trotsky) assumed leadership over the other soviets
- All-Russian Union of Peasants was established to support the demands for redistribution of land and a Constituent Assembly
- also students and some national minorities protested (e.g. in Finland was a general strike in the Autumn)

> in August the government promised to set up an elected National Assembly but only with consultative role
- the escalation of the strikes even to government staff, a soviet-organised general strike in October and a lack of army force in home front to secure the autocracy (most of the best troops were still in the Far East) forced the tsar take steps to make concessions.

B. Constitutional change

B1. The October Manifesto and the Fundamental Laws
- the October Manifesto was issued by Nicholas II on 17 October'

1. What are the key promises made by the Tsar here?
2. What is the 'tone' of this source?
3. Which social groups would this manifesto satisfy in particular?1.1. What could be the real motives to release the manifesto?

1.2. What were the attitudes of the opposition groups towards the manifesto? (E.g source B on page 121/ source 5.3. on page 148)
1.3. Nicholas II's new constitutional system was published in the 'Fundamental Laws of the Russian Empire' in April 1906
Imagine yourself to be a member of Russian opposition in 1906. Study first some articles of the 'Fundamental Laws' and give then a statement to the foreign press as a member of the opposition.
1.4. Consider reasons for tsarist survival and recovery.

B2. Pyotr Stolypin and the Dumas
TASK 2: Read pages 123 - 126/150 - 153.
2.1. Study the role of the Russian political parties in each Dumas' policy making.
2.2. What were the weaknesses of Dumas?
2.3. How important was Stolypin's role as a savior of tsarist autocracy?

C. Stolypin and the peasantry
TASK 3: pages 126 - 128/154 -156.
3.1. How did the state of the peasants change by the reform?
3.2. What were Stolypin's motives for the reform?

Lenin on Stolypin's role